Monday, August 19, 2013

Here's another shot, from an evening with my lovely craft group a few days ago. I was going to crop it so you could see my belly more clearly, but I think they're fantastic, so I left it. :)

In comparing my belly to this shot from 37 weeks with Marlowe, I think my suspicions are right: I'm not as big this time! What?!? And my midwife agrees. She thinks the baby will be in the 8 pound range, so we'll see! I'm actually not as uncomfortable as I was with the twins or Marlowe (yet), which makes it hard for me to believe that I only have 3 1/2 weeks left (give or take). I'm very thankful for small blessings!

At my appointment last week, the midwife suspected that Baby Girl was breech, so she did a quick ultrasound. Turns out, the reason that she wasn't confident about baby's womb position is because baby is occiput posterior, or "sunny side-up" -- facing my front. That really doesn't mean much -- I'll still be able to have a drug-free VBAC, but I have to be prepared for the possibility of back labor. Theoretically, occiput posterior babies can't tuck their chins into their chests easily while descending through the birth canal, so their skulls tend to rub against the mother's tailbone, causing even worse labor pain. Lovely. Some studies have shown that position doesn't increase the likelihood of back labor, though, and babies change position all the time in the womb. I'm just preparing myself for the worst, just in case. :)

Thursday, August 1, 2013

I'm squeezing this in at the last minute today. I always try to take a picture on this specific day in each pregnancy, because I had the twins at 33 weeks, 6 days. You can click on my post from Marlowe's pregnancy to see how big I was then, but really, I feel like I'm about the same size. I always spend today thinking about when the twins were born. It was such a happy day, filled with a little suspense and a little concern. But the happy memories stand out more than anything.

Tony and I have both suddenly realized that this baby is coming ... soon! He's working furiously to finish our main level and kitchen renovations, and I'm helping too ... but my help isn't quite as effective or strong as it was even a few weeks ago. But, thanks to help from friends and family, and a big "push to finish" last weekend, we're almost done! So, I'm making some birth necessity / baby necessity purchases and thinking about what to take to the hospital. I should probably do some freezer cooking, but we don't have countertops. :)

I usually try to look nice for my belly shots, but today was just one of those days. I'm tired, I'm big, and the kids were a handful today. But, we have persevered! They are all sleeping! Go team. Sometimes you have to celebrate the little things. :)